


An illusion

by Anonymous



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Pepperony Week, Pepperony Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24911680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: An image revamp exercise for Tony and Stark Industries leads to an unforeseen roller coaster ride for Pepper and Tony, some introspection, and ultimately, clarity. (A submission for Pepperony Week 2020 day 2- Fake Dating AU.)
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59
Collections: Pepperony, Pepperony Bingo 2020





	An illusion

“Ow!”

The whack Tony got from under the table was enough to make him look up from his phone and glare angrily at Pepper, who was now looking innocently at the PR personnel John reading in front of them. He looked up from his notes and at the two people in front of him, one listening with rapt attention, and the other looking at the redhead in front.

“And so, it doesn’t look like the recent advances of the company have done any good to Mr. Stark’s reputation.” He concluded. “Stark Industries may be on the top, and we might be making strides in every section imaginable, but neither our charities, nor our humanitarian work or funding have been able to give us the positive image we need. We are still looked at as a money-hungry conglomerate making money out of war. And our recent surveys make us feel that a positive image might help us get ground- ready for the frequent controversial stands we have to take.”

Pepper nodded. “In other words, the company needs an image makeover.”

“Yes, but it’s more than that.” He said. “We need to be SEEN as more than weapon dealers, people enjoying luxurious privileged life with destruction. Mr. Stark needs to be seen as a visionary, someone who is working towards a goal of protecting America with a serious approach to it. Instead what are we getting?”

John pointed at the screen to show a picture of Tony Stark, pitch drunk, with a brunette on each arm, gambling away at the Vegas casino.

“This was during the Apogee awards, Mr. Stark.” He said pointedly.

“I’m sorry what?” Tony looked up from his phone, getting another angry glare from Pepper. He looked at the screen. “Oh yeah that was a good time!”

“Not for us. The Apogee awards were a great chance to ramp up your image. It didn’t work out as expected when you didn’t show up and this was what came in the news the next day.”

“Is that what you think, or is this what the Board wanted you to tell me?” Tony gave him a pointed look, making John tremble in his shoes.

“This is what all of us feel.” Obadiah Stane butted in. “Tony, you’re a genius, and the company owes a lot to you..”

“Including my money.. considering I’m majority stockholder..”

“Yes.. yes.. we get it..” Stane continued. “But Tony, you need to understand that you.. embarrass us.. this image of you.. it’s not what we want..”

“You embarrass us.. definitely not the first time I’m hearing this..” Tony murmured.

“Your image of a genius, playboy, billionaire just concerned with the.. banal.. pleasures of life.. it gives a hollow look to Stark Enterprises as well.. Tell me.. when we are called Weapon-Mongers and superficial, and we try to cut their claims with speeches of our patriotism, charities and hospitals etc., how is it going to work when the CEO of the company behaves so irresponsibly and shamefully? Is this on whom America’s safety and economy lies? And let me not bring up the video of you giving a middle finger to the top aristocrats of the country..”

“They said stuff about my Dad..” Tony said..

“Pepper you see where we are going with this, right? After all you’re the one who has to put out Tony’s fires all the time!” Stane looked at her. Pepper nodded.

“Tony would it hurt for you to behave a bit more sober and put out in the press? Portray yourself as a … I don’t know.. a family guy.. a serious, responsible man.. a thinker.. a genius with a vision.. who is more than just a privileged asshole billionaire? And before you get angry, this is the press talking.. not me. I know there is more to you than all that they say so why not act it?”

Tony did not say anything for some time. Pepper finally cleared her throat.

“I need a drink.” Tony got up and walked over to the bar.

“So.. Mr. Stane.. John.. what do you suggest?

“Mr. Stark needs a makeover.” John meekly spoke up. “He gives jobs to a lot of people and puts food on their tables, our weapons protect millions and we do a lot of charity but we won’t be seen as a contributing industry and our philanthropy won’t be recognised if Mr. Stark is not seen that way.”

“So what do you want me to do? Hang out with the Pope?” Tony spat out.

“Mr. Stark.. please!” Pepper shushed him. John hesitated.

“We just want you to have a more family friendly image and put your good deeds out Mr. Stark. And for that, the first thing we need is for you to keep things discreet..”

“And become a hypocrite like the others!” finished Tony.

“Your liasons need not make front page news is all we are saying Tony. Do whatever you want, but no gambling, no alcohol, no women in the press. That’s how everyone does it!” Stane said, flaying his arms around, as if it was routine stuff. John nodded. “News and PR articles will be released about you from time to time about the good work the company is doing, and about you wanting to make a change in your life, and society. We shall organize a few good interviews for you.. not with something trashy like Vanity Fair.. but something classier.. something that would show more of your REAL personality.. make you come across as a people’s person.”

“Oprah?” Pepper suggested.

“Yes, why not?” John brightened up. “I’m sure they would be pleased to have us over.”

“I’m not going to that show.” Tony said sullenly. “I don’t like personal interviews.”

“But sir…”

“Do you have to be reminded who pays your salary John?” Tony sternly said. John shut up after that. Stane shot an exasperated look at Pepper, who just nodded at him silently saying ‘I’ll handle him’.

“Mr. Stark, you need to listen to what he’s saying. The Board has been hinting about these issues since a long time. Your own employees laugh at you. This isn’t acceptable.”

“You want me to be a hypocrite like others? I am what I am Pepper. Are you embarrassed of me too?” The last part was added in a small voice.

Pepper took a deep breath before speaking. “It’s not like that Mr. Stark.. I just think it would not be a bad idea to let others see some good points of your personality and highlight them.. for the good of the company..”

“Hogwash is what it is!”

“Mr. Stark why are you being so difficult about this?” Pepper exasperatedly wrung her hands even as Stane walked out, shaking his head.

“It really won’t be very difficult Mr. Stark,” John piped in. “The PR team will release articles about you as planned. From your side, you just have to discuss with the team first and stick to the cards while giving your interviews. We monitor stuff about you released online, and extinguish anything negative early. And you just have to go on a few dates with Miss Potts and that will be it.”

“I’m going to do no such nonsense. This is my company. If you don’t like it, or me, you can very well leave.. and..” Tony stopped dead in his tracks, turning to stare at John.

“Go back to that last part.

“What?”

“The dating part?

“Yeah what was that about?” Pepper spoke.

“Oh that..” John pretended to be casual. “Well, we were discussing the whole thing today, we, as in, the PR team, and we thought that if we portray Mr. Stark as someone in a serious relationship kind of thingy- maybe that, coupled with the rest of the stuff, could actually help in turning his image around.. and everyone kinda agreed that Miss Potts would actually be the most believable name here…”

“Oh you got to be kidding me!” Potts shouted. Tony on the other hand sat down on the table again with his legs on top. “Go on! I’m listening.” he said, a smug look on his face

“We’re not doing anything of this. I’m not gonna be a part of this.” Pepper warned.

“Hey Pepper at least listen to the good guy..”

“Tony..”

“Oh so it’s Tony now huh?”

“Mr. Stark..”

“Shush.. yeah go on John..”

John cleared his throat before going ahead. “It’s just that.. we thought.. after all this while.. and keeping in mind Mr. Stark’s reputation with the women, it would seem very fake if we suddenly plant rumours of him dating some random girl seriously. With you, on the other hand, it would seem natural. I mean..” he seemed emboldened by the fact that both of them were listening keenly to him. “You’ve worked together for almost a decade. Everyone knows your easy going dynamics- employees and many journalists alike. People have often placed bets on both of you getting together…”

“They have?” Tony brightened up. Pepper gave him an angry glare, causing him to shut up.

“Yeah.. I mean it would make for a very realistic.. moving on to the next step kind of story. Love born out of years of familiarity. It’s very easy to sell, and very very endearing, let me tell you…”

“Nice idea but no thanks.” Said Pepper stoutly. “My Mom might burst an artery in her brain or something if she reads that I’m dating Tony.”

“And here I thought she liked me!” Tony said in mock horror.

“Liked you? Tony, she called you ‘that Stark’ on your face last time! She ignored you all the time! How did you even think she liked you?!”

“She gave me her blueberries..”

“Yeah, that was to shut you up. Sorry John but it’s an absolute no from my side.”

“You are taking this the wrong way Miss Potts. It’s going to be a Hollywoodsy- thing, the whole ‘Are they- are they not’ kind of story. We print one article to build the story, one to debunk it. The idea is to keep people guessing while we work on improving Mr. Stark’s image otherwise- show him as someone in a real, serious relationship. And we can always squash the whole thing if it gets out of hand by making Mr. Stark give an official statement.”

“Till then it will be a _‘no, we are just really ‘good friends’_ and _‘no comments’_ kind of thing.. right?”

“Exactly!” John brightened up. “You are already getting a hang of the whole thing Mr. Stark.

Tony grinned, looking like someone who was gonna make his cake and eat it too. “This could be fun!”

Pepper grimaced. As per eight years of their history, what was ‘fun’ for Tony usually ended up in disaster for her.

“Please Miss Potts…”

XXXXX

“This is a horrible plan.” Pepper said for the tenth time. “Remind me again why I agreed.”

“Because I’m forbidden in your book of ethics, and everyone likes the forbidden fruit?” Tony suggested with a smirk. “

She gave him an irritated look. “How the hell do women find you charming?!”

“Yeah you have four hours to find that out. Shall we?”

She stepped out of the Audi with Tony, feeling weird and uncomfortable. Unlike all her previous outings with him over the last 8 years, for the first time today, she was dressed in a floral light green flowing knee length skirt with a matching olive coloured sleeveless top. Her hair was pushed back neatly on one side of the neck with a tie holding it in and a few curls adorning her face. Light makeup, a clutch and comfortable classy sandals- everything about her was supposed to scream- casual chic and NOT formal. NOT a business meeting.

Tony too was dressed casually in a white button down shirt and chinos. He closed the door for her as she got down, putting a hand on her back. “This is great. We never hang out together like this!”

“We don’t have to start now, there are no photographers here.”

“Yeah I’m just getting into the mood of the whole thing.” He murmured in her ear as they waited for the valet to take the car away, his breath making her shiver. “I’m a method actor. I need to sink into the character I’m playing” he flashed her a naughty smile as he said it, and she instantly regretted again for having agreed to the whole thing.

“Well don’t get too much into character. Remember the rules.”

Yeah yeah okay. She’d said that to him a million times on the way over. No kissing, no excessively close contact, keep hands to self except few light touches. No boisterous behaviour or suggestive dialogues in public, no more than one drink. The aim was just to give hint of a fire, not send the whole jungle up into flames.

And of course, no flirting with other girls when she was with him. That would ruin the story completely.

“Don’t worry Miss Potts, I believe your bodyguard is right there to keep me in check.”

She calmed down as she saw Rhodey and his girlfriend waiting for them, talking to each other. Knowing that she was not very comfortable about the whole idea and the necessity of improving Tony’s reputation in the media and government’s eyes, Rhodes had very kindly asked Tony and her out with his girlfriend. The plan was to have her out with Tony’s long time established friend as a group outing/double date and put out a few pictures of the same to see the reaction. Based upon the trial run, the route ahead would be decided.

“I still think my idea was a lot better.” Tony murmured. “You, me and a picnic lunch on the yacht. The pictures would have been more stunning too.”

“With me in a bikini no doubt?”

“Upto you. I’m a great fan of woman making their own choices, emancipation, yada yada. Then again, I’m a fan of good fashion choices and nudity too.”

Too fast, and too scandalous, she thought- nothing different from the others he’s been seen with. This, on the other hand, seemed perfect- two long time associates trying to explore ‘something more’ ahead in a casual double date at this weekend club with another long time friend and his girlfriend. If she and Tony ever attempted to get together seriously, in a parallel universe, this is how it would begin, she thought- with them taking baby steps over each other with the help of their friends.

No thinking of _them._ No thinking of _them._ Stop it here. Pull the chain. Put a lid on it.

She pushed her thoughts away and walked into the club with Tony, where they were escorted to the pool table near which Rhodey and his girlfriend Jessica were currently sitting, sipping their beers. Introductions were quickly made and in no time, the fake dating plan had been quickly forgotten over conversation, food and drinks.

It was a while later when Rhodey and Jessica excused themselves to ‘catch a bit of air’ that an awkward silence hung around the table.

“Well.. just us now I believe.” Tony announced after a while.

“You’re a genius to have noticed that.”

“Hey.. give a guy some credit, I’m trying to make some talk okay, I usually don’t have to do that much on my other dates.”

“Yeah that’s because you don’t go on real dates, you just bring them home for sex.”

“I have.. dates.. they are just a bit.. different.. from yours.” He said, adjusting his collar a bit, and Pepper bit a smile at his flushed face. “But they are still dates.”

“It’s okay, we don’t really have to make small talk. We can just sit silently here till we get the signal from PR.”

“No but that would be boring!” Tony whined. “I have a reputation to maintain! I don’t want you saying to others later that Anthony Edward Stark bored the hell out of you on a date!”

“Who would I say that to?”

“I don’t know.. who do you usually confide in about bad dates?”

“Well..” she took in a deep breath. “Nobody, because I haven’t been on a date in the last 4 years. There’s never any time, and the few days I’m free, I spend them on relaxing than finding company.”

“Aww Potts..”

“That’s okay, it’s a choice I’ve made. It’s not fair to go out on dates and then become so busy that you don’t have the time to call them back anymore. Such dates never lead anywhere.”

He nodded. “Well, then that just means we should make sure this date ends up being a good one for you!”

“Tony!” she furrowed his brows at him. “This isn’t a date! This is work-related.”

“That doesn’t mean we have to be bored out of our minds while our friends play tonsil-tennis.” He looked around at the table. “You.. wanna play?

“Tony!” She said indignantly, her heart suddenly beating wildly as she had an image of them kissing passionately, her arms around his neck and hands going in his hair, even as he held her by her waist, one hand scrunching up her blouse, bending her back on the pool table.

“Hey no, I meant, you wanna play that?” he indicated the pool table.

“Pool?” She didn’t know whether she was deflated or relieved. She tried to force the image of them kissing out of her mind. See, this is why she had been against this whole fake dating thing from the beginning.

“Yeah!” he got up enthusiastically. “I bet I could beat you any day.”

“There are other ways to see me bend over Tony.”

“Oh yeah?! That’s your excuse? Then let’s play right now. I bet you.. 15 dollars.. that I could beat you now!”

Pepper burst out laughing. “15 dollars?! Seriously? Tony you just tipped the waitress 500 bucks and you’re betting me 15 dollars?!”

“Umm.. well.. I .. you don’t want to raise the stakes and lose your money Potts!” Tony struggled with words even as Pepper continued to laugh. She bent down to take up aim. “Your money is now mine Stark, even if it’s just 15 dollars!” she laughed again.

“I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

She shook her head, laughing again. Tony smiled. The best way to distract her was always via a challenge.

XXXXXXX

“Having fun?”

Pepper smiled at Rhodey who came up from behind her with a plate of fries in his hand. He offered some to her and she gladly took it.

“So far, no disasters.” She said, and he laughed.

“I don’t know why you’re expecting disasters.”

“Can you blame me?” she asked, pointing towards Tony who was aiming to take a shot at the pool table, not realising that a beautiful blonde stood immediately behind him.

Rhodes laughed. “Oh trust me, he’s being a lot less.. hazardous.. than he could have been. He’s being a good boy tonight.”

They were interrupted by a loud yell. As expected, the blonde behind Tony had got hit.

“There you go!” said Pepper, turning away and taking a sip of her drink. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m not his PA tonight, so he’ll have to handle it on his own. Is he apologizing Rhodey?”

Rhodey grinned and nodded.

“Good.”

He laughed and punched her lightly on the shoulder. “You’ll do just fine. There’s no one else who knows how to handle Tony better than you anyway. And you won’t even need to act for a large part of your dates.”

“What do you mean?”

Rhodey raised an eyebrow.

“Oh shut up James! Not you!”

“What? I’m just saying..”

“Yeah I don’t want to hear it the rest of it!”

XXXXXXX

_The California Times_

_Wednesday, April 9 th 2007_

_The Weekend Club, Malibu, California_

_Spotted by our diarist this week was Tony Stark, our favourite Fortune 500 CEO, at The Weekend Club, Malibu’s favourite youth and family hangout, enjoying a rare day out with friends. Dressed in white and ochre with his trademark shades and fancy sneakers, the charming billionaire seemed to be in a chilled mood as he lounged about, playing pool and talking to long time friend Colonel James Rhodes. What surprised us though was the presence of two lovely women- while one obviously seemed to be Mr. Rhodes guest, the second was a familiar face from Mr. Stark’s inner circle- Miss Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts, his personal assistant and confidante, who seemed to be out of her formal demeanour for a change. A little birdie at the Club chirped that the two ‘colleagues’ were seen enjoying each other’s company when the lovebirds excused themselves, and even left the place together. A casual meet-up of long time friends or a double date? Your guess is as good as ours! Betting on America’s most famous Playboy is too much of a stretch, however, in the event that something follows in the coming days, remember, you read it here first!_

_And as always, our eyes are posted on you, Mr. Stark!_

_[Attached: A pic of them walking barefoot on the beach together. She has one hand in her hair, trying to keep them against the breeze, while he has his scotch in one hand and her Blackberry in the other, his chinos folded up to mid-leg. Another pic shows them getting ready to leave together in his Audi, with him closing the door for her.]_

XXXXXXX

“This is excellent.”

“Yeah..” Pepper murmured. “Not too much, not too less. Just right. Realistically written. And I didn’t get a call from Mom.”

“And I love the pic they’ve chosen. A candid pic. I’m going to frame this for us.”

“Tony!”

“What?! It’s all about the little memories, no?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She turned to John. “How’s the feedback?”

“It’s just right. This article wasn’t generated with the idea of shocking people, but rather just to prime them up for what follows. It did its work perfectly.”

“I can’t wait for what follows.” Tony grinned happily.

“Wait..” Pepper looked nervous. “What do you mean?”

XXXXXXXX

Tony’s eyes looked for Pepper as soon as he entered the Disney concert hall. A number of beautiful women tried to get his attention but he ignored them, heading straight to the bar for a drink and pretending to listen to the old rich businessmen excitedly regaling their business prospects to him.

He didn’t care.

All he wanted to see was her.

And at last he did!

She was standing nervously on one side of the hall, smoothing her dress again and again- and by jove!- that dress! A midnight blue satin gown with a beautifully low cut back highlighting her pale skin, with her hair left open for a change, beautifully adjusted in soft curls. Tony stopped dead in his tracks, drinking in the view before slowly moving forward to greet her. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t noticed before that she was an extremely beautiful woman, he had had pangs of desire since forever- something he had learnt to control and never act upon. But tonight, it was different.

After all, the most beautiful woman in the room was his date tonight!

“Hey!” he said, not able to take his eyes away from her. “You.. you look great.”

“I hope so.” She said nervously. “There are going to be lots of cameras on us tonight.”

“You bet!” he said, holding her hand. “Wanna dance?!”

She appeared confused. “Should we? I don’t know, are the photographers here yet?!”

“I don’t care.” He said, pulling her to the centre of the room, looking into her ocean blue eyes the whole time. God damn she was beautiful! Why didn’t she dress like this everyday?

She seemed to be restless though, looking here and there all the time. “Pepper, relax. Forget about the photographers for a bit.”

“This is weird, I don’t normally dress like this.. the whole of the office staff is here and we’re dancing and .. and oh.. I forgot to put on deodorant..!”

“You look great and you smell great.. don’t think about it.. the photographers can’t capture your scent anyway..”

“God knows what else I’ve forgotten Tony!”

“Forget about it now.. just stay in the moment, let’s dance, please?” he said gently, moving his hand to her waist. She took in a deep breath and put her hands on his chest as he drew her close.

“This dress is worth 8,000 dollars, from your account..”

“It’s a great dress..”

“I feel ridiculous..”

“You look beautiful..”

“Is this appropriate? Are we standing too close? Should I just put one hand?”

“Pepper.. Pepper… relax! You’re rambling.” Tony shook her lightly. “If you’re not comfortable then I think we should just stop it. No need for this pretence.”

“No.. it’s important.. for all of us. A better image of yours will make life easy for all of us.” She closed her eyes and counted to 5 slowly, as Tony observed her. “I just need to calm my nerves.”

“Do you need something from the bar?”

“A vodka martini please. With lots of olives, like, three olives.”

“Got it!” he turned quickly towards the bar. He was back again within 3 minutes, and this time he found Pepper outside on the balcony, breathing deeply. “Cheers!” he said, and had just taken a sip of his scotch when he saw Pepper downing her whole drink in one go.

“Pepper you need to pace yourself!!”

“I’m alright.. I just..” she was breathing fast now. He touched her tenderly. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah!” she exclaimed suddenly with new found confidence. “Let’s go in there and show ‘em!”

“Pepper.. pep wait!” he kept his scotch on a nearby table and followed her to the main hall, encircling his arms around her waist, holding her in a dancing pose so people wouldn’t find it weird how he was trying to restrain her. “Stay with me, okay? Don’t go anywhere.” He instructed her.

She shook her head, a glassy look in her eyes and a perpetual smile on her face now. “I’ll be with you. Wherever you need me to be. Always.” She put both arms around his neck and inspite of everything, Tony found himself getting immersed in the ambience totally. Slowly they swayed to the music, their eyes on each other.

The song ended and the band started playing a faster one, which seemed to infuse new energy into Pepper. “Faster Stark! Let’s show these oldies how it’s done!” she exclaimed, gyrating her hips. He laughed and caught her hand, swirling her round and round with the music. Her laughter filled the air, and he felt he had never heard anything sweeter. Towards the end of the song, he dipped her low and then caught her back up, both of them panting as the people around them clapped.

“A dance please, Mr. Stark?”

“Back off there bitch, he’s mine tonight.” Snapped Pepper with a frown, and Tony raised an eyebrow. A-ow! Prim and proper Pepper saying this was the first sign of trouble.

“You okay?

“Uh-hm.” She nodded, putting her head on his chest. He shivered with the warmth of her breath on his chest, through his shirt, and as if on impulse, his hands started moving on her lower back, stroking her oh-so-soft skin lightly. “Just a little dizzy.” Was he mistaken, or did her speech seem slightly slurred? It was difficult to make out now with most of his blood going southwards too.

His hands refused to let her go of her body though, and they kept on moving slowly on the dance floor. “Promise you won’t puke on my shoes?”

“That’s your thing not mine.” She looked up at him. “Don’t worry I won’t ruin the show tonight. You trust me right?”

He tried to fight the butterflies in his stomach as he looked at her face, smiling widely and eyes shining, so full of trust and adoration. Their lips were so close, he just had to lean in. He held her as her gait turned slightly unsteady, and soon he had made his decision. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out.

“Tony?” she called out confused. “Where are we going?”

XXXXXXX

“This.. is not according to plan.”

They were sitting on a bench near a Burger King outside the city. Pepper had Tony’s jacket around her shoulders, and was sipping now on some lemon juice. She felt better after all the puking she had done just a few moments after Tony had dragged her out of the Concert Hall. It was embarrassing to think of it, and how Tony had been holding her hair all the while, but considering that she had done the same for him countless times in the past, he kinda owed it to her this one time, she reasoned.

“It’s okay. Improvising is my thing.” Tony said. He had removed his bow tie, and folded his shirt sleeves at the arm. “You feeling good?”

“Uh-hum!” she nodded, still sipping. She did look more aware after washing her face with cold water, and her speech was clearer. “Do you think we can go back there for some pictures?”

“Nope, you ruined your makeup now.”

She groaned and he laughed at her. “You still look great to me though,” he pushed a strand behind her ear and she hoped the colour that had risen to her cheeks was not visible in the semi-darkness. “Drink up! It’ll help you get your mushed brains back.” he ordered, opening a cheeseburger for himself. “And anyways, I heard the shutters click when we left the party midway. I think the press got their shots.”

She woke up with a shudder at the thought, wondering if they would be on the cover page the following morning, her being branded as Tony Stark’s flavour of the night. She looked at Tony, who was merrily chomping away on his burger. “What?”

“I’m gonna have a bad headache in a few minutes.” She massaged her temple, feeling the beginning of a throb, and groaned. “This is prom night all over again.”

“Is this what high school proms are like?”

She looked up at him with a frown.

“I never went to my prom.”

“Seriously? But how come? I thought you would have been the Prom King!”

He grinned sheepishly. “I wasn’t always a stud Pepper. I graduated from High School at 14. Everyone in my grade was so much elder to me. I was the only one who was dropped to school and picked from there by a butler. Most of the girls used to laugh at my acne festooned face and the guys used to bully me. I was short and a nerd and very nearly ended up being locked in my locker once- the bodyguards who secretly kept an eye on me rescued me, and after that no one wanted to be my friend anymore.” He shrugged. “Obviously I didn’t have a date for my prom. My Mom had offered to go to prom with me, but I didn’t want to party with those people. Alcohol was off limits to me anyway. And even at 14, I understood that nobody goes to prom with their Mom.”

She nodded, a wave of warmth sweeping across her heart. It always did, whenever Tony offered her these little insights about his past self- about how he came to be The Tony Stark, the guy who flaunted it all, and who understood what people really valued. Somewhere, in the guise of an asshole rebel debonair billionaire, was still the nerdy high schooler with his pimpled face who was scared of the darkness in the locker, and thrust into the blinding spotlight at an early age, and who had learned to deal with it by portraying himself as someone resilient enough to whatever people thought of him, at the same time behaving as what people expected him to be like.

“Well..” she took in a deep breath. “Prom is.. not all like that.. but usually there is a bit of dancing, a bit of naughtiness, there’s a band, a photo booth, some people like to play pranks, and usually someone spikes the fruit punch.” She laughed at the memory. “That’s how most have their first experience with alcohol, and that’s how I ended up drunk on my prom night and spent the night puking, while my other friends indulged in.. ahem.. post prom shenanigans with their boyfriends.”

“Ooooh the end of the prom seems like the best thing then.. we’ve already covered the rest.”

“Don’t even think about it Tony!” she gave him an icy glare.

“Anyways enough talk about me. I think this has been a very fruitful evening. I’m gaining a little more insight on you- seems like you are just as bad at dating as I am.” He looked down at his shoes.

“Not that I feel a need to defend myself.. but, this is not how my dates usually go.. and I can usually hold my drink well..”

Tony grinned, and took a long slurp of cola as his eyes sparkled with a mischievous look. “Yeah THAT was my favourite part of the night, even though I think you ruined my good shoes. It was like we switched roles- from today, I’m the knight in shining armour, the gentleman taking care of a young drunk damsel in distress, while you, you Pepper, are the wild, messed up one! Looks like we’ll have totally reversed our personalities during this fake-dating duration! I can see the party-girl in you peeking out already!”

“I wasn’t a damsel in distress. Happy would have brought me home if anything had gone out of control at the party. Or I would have called a cab to go home. Or someone from the PR team..” Tony made a face at her rant.

“Okay, I officially like you more when you were drunk. Can we rewind to that part and have, I don’t know, fun Pepper back? The one who did a sensual dance in front of the oldies in a gorgeous backless dress and had her claws possessively all over me?”

“I did not!”

“You did, you totally did! You snapped at that nice Miss Philips down from accounting.”

“That, was Miss Pristine, not Philips..!”

“Whatever! But I quite enjoyed the tigress in you. It’s gonna give me kinky dreams for the next few nights.” He snarled a little, and she punched him on his arm, half embarrassed. He laughed, massaging his arm at the point. Inwardly, she couldn’t help feeling a glow in her heart over the way he had taken care of her. This was not how she had expected Tony Stark to behave with a drunk woman throwing herself over him.

“But seriously Tony, you have to get back there. You haven’t given your speech yet!”

Tony groaned. “Is that really important? I mean.. it’s nice out here!” he flailed his arms around.

Yes, it was indeed nice out here. The silence, the comfort food and their usual banter- it was a hundred times better than the ball with its exquisite dinner, overpriced band and snooty rich people. However, what was important had to be done.

“It’s a charity ball Tony. The whole thing is meant to ramp up your image- there would be no point if you are not there at the most important moment.”

“Alright fine.” He grudgingly agreed. “But you’re coming with me. That was the plan right? For us to be photographed there together?”

“Tony! I can’t go like this! I look..”

“A little messed up but still the most beautiful woman in the ball tonight.” He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He got up and extended his hand. “Come on up now, let’s show our faces there and then get lost. I know an illegal food truck which makes really wicked chicken wings at midnight. It’ll be our little post prom outing.” He winked.

It took about 15 minutes of Tony’s deadly driving to get them back at the concert hall, during which Pepper attempted to fix her ruined makeup with some tissue paper and smoothen her hair. They walked straight in to the dias at the concert hall, where Tony thankfully, stuck to the cards and delivered a speech about the Annual Firefighters charity fund and how grateful they were for their service. After the claps and the bouquets, the cheque handing and the photographs, he promptly came over to Pepper again. “Ready for the chicken wings Potts?”

She looked around. “Tony, don’t you think we should stay here for some time.”

“Nope. No point in giving the shutterbugs any more clicks of your smudged lipstick than absolutely needed.” Alarmed, Pepper immediately caught his hand and walked out.

XXXXXXX

_Gossip Cop_

_April 16 th 2007_

_Disney Concert Hall, Malibu, California_

_The Third Annual Firefighters Charity Ball was the highlight of the page 3 circuit, held with great pomp and show at the Disney Hall by Stark Industries. A yearly event, the Charity Ball usually boasts of the biggest names in glamour, fashion and stocks- anybody with power and influence. This year too, it was no different, however, it was the scion of Stark Industries who captured the inquisitivity of media persons. Mr. Tony Stark, who came to the party alone, disappeared even before the party had started in full swing, and reappeared almost at the end for his speech. An eyewitness who preferred to stay anonymous, said that Stark spent majority of the evening with his personal assistant slash secretary, Virginia Potts, who not only shared a dance with him at the party, but also left the party when he did. Urgent business affairs, or just one of the usual party shenanigans that have come to be associated with Tony Stark for a long time now? An inside source however says that word around the block is that the two are taking up their professional relationship a notch higher, and Tony Stark’s abstinence from alcohol and women to stay with Potts the entire evening was noticed by everyone. “For the first time, he wasn’t pitch drunk and smothered with lipstick. She was also up at the dias with him when he gave his speech.”- the source, who refused to be named, said. Keeping in mind that the two were also spotted at what seemed to be a double date few days back, one wonders whether this leopard is ready to change his spots!_

_[Attached: A picture of Tony and Pepper in a dancing pose. He has his eyes on her and his hand on her back with an intense look, and she has a hint of a smile on her face.]_

XXXXXXXX

“I don’t know what to say to this.” Pepper said quietly, keeping the newspaper away.

“I think that’s a great pic. The guys on Twitter liked it too.”

“People are talking about us on Twitter?”

“Yup, there are a few fangroups of mine that are discussing us now. They think we look hot.”

“What else?”

“They’ve named us ‘Pepperony’”

“What?!” she replied indignantly.

“Pepper + Tony-> Pepper-ony”

“I got that!” she huffed. “I think it’s childish.”

“I think it’s cool. I even made a fake id to leave a comment of approval on Pepperony!”

“I’ll make a twitter id right now and say that it’s downright ridiculous!”

“Could you also vote for us? There’s a twitter poll going on- which hot new couple are you rooting for? I’ve put in about 30 votes, and assigned Rhodey and Happy to do it too, but looks like we are losing currently to this hippy Rockstar couple!”

“Don’t be silly Tony!”

“Hey, I’m just trying to promote us. Sticking to ‘the plan’.” Tony made finger quotes in the air.

Pepper looked demurely again at the newspaper pic. “I look like I’m trying to seduce you.”

“Seriously? Were you?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Obviously not Tony!” she said indignantly, and he smirked. “But there’ll be a barrage of such articles on me in the other news outlets. I wonder what the office staff is thinking of me.”

“Let them try and write something offensive.”

She tried to ignore his protectiveness, and said, “I think the next one needs to be more, private. Like we don’t expose more of ourselves to the press than we absolutely should. And where we can stick to the plan.”

“Private.” Tony nodded. “Of course, I’ll give you private.”

XXXXXXX

“Okay, I wasn’t really expecting this when I said ‘private’.”

They were standing in an empty movie theatre, the board outside the theatre mentioning ‘Tickets sold out’.

Tony on the other hand was grinning from ear to ear. “Well, I thought about what you said, and even though you mentioned private, you didn’t want a real _private_ private, like the yacht idea, because that would be suggestive and scandalous and worry your Mom, you wanted, _public_ private, because you would be comfortable that way- between people, but without them knowing it’s us.. but we would have to use disguises that way to avoid commotion and that would be useless cos then the media wouldn’t be able to identify us at all.. so I decided this was it! _Public Private AND non scandalous.”_ He flailed his arms about the empty movie theatre, with a single attendant at a corner and one behind the screen. “Plus, we get to choose the movie!”

She couldn’t help smiling at the level of thought he had put into it and his own pleased expression. It also helped that in a simple black tee shirt paired with denim jeans he looked so much younger. “Alright genius, well done! If anything, this will give the press a really romantic story.” she said, getting down the steps, dressed equally casually in jeans, a red top and sneakers, for a change. “So where shall we sit?”

“Um.. I assume couples sit at the back in the corner where they can make out,” (she shot him a look), “but we can sit anywhere we want!” he said carefully. “So.. I guess we sit in the most comfortable seats in the second last row in the center! It’ll make sure we’re not too close to the smell of butter from the popcorn maker, or the washroom either, plus the attendant can’t stare at us.. and we can put up our feet on the seats in front too..”

“Okay that’s enough calculation!” she said, pushing him towards their seats. They sat, and the attendant came up to them with buckets of popcorn and cola. “Which movie, sir?”

“Whichever the lady wants.” He said with a smug smile.

Pepper gave a lopsided smile. He was so getting good at this thing, whether he meant it or not. “Die Hard 4”.

Tony gave her a happy look. “Seriously?”

“I don’t want you to snore next to me.”

He laughed. The movie hall darkened, and within a few minutes they got engrossed in the movie and their popcorn and colas. They occasionally demanded to pause the movie to discuss a particular scene, or rewatch it just because Tony had a meltdown seeing the cars flying through the air. With nobody around them, they could be loud in their applause as well as their laughs and comments, and with the fun they were having, they didn’t realise when the movie ended and the lights switched on.

“Well.. that was fast.” Tony commented.

“Yeah.” Pepper said, a little shaken. Over so soon? This had to be the shortest out of all their dates. Fake dates, Pepper corrected herself.

“Then again, we really don’t have to leave now. We could always watch another movie!” he said.

Pepper bit her lip. This.. was.. not according to plan.. truly speaking they had come just to be photographed here together.. the sooner they went out the more chances for media hogs to catch them outside… but it was tempting to stay longer. She didn’t have fun nights very often, and certainly not with Tony.

“Come on Potts, it’s a Saturday tomorrow, we can sleep till late.” He pleaded.

“Alright,” she leaned back on her seat. “But only if this one’s my choice.”

“Hey, you picked the last one too!”

“Yeah but that wasn’t my choice. I picked that one so that you would watch it with me!”

“Like you didn’t enjoy it?”

“I did, but I picked it for you to enjoy!”

“Fine, then this time, let me pick something for you to enjoy.”

Pepper groaned. “Alright, what do you want to see?”

Tony turned to the attendant. “Notting Hill.”

She was pleasantly surprised, and continued to look at him as he ordered chips and pasta for their second round. “I would have ordered wine too, but I feel it’s better to keep the alcohol away from you when we are on a date lest you jump me again.” He said with a straight face, then looked at her and gave a little snarl, and she couldn’t help blushing.

The theatre darkened again as the beginning credits started rolling. This time, they watched the movie uninterrupted, none of them saying anything as they got lost in the love story of a world renowned Hollywood actress and the simple owner of a bookshop.

_William Thacker: I live in Notting Hill. You live in Beverly Hills. Everyone in the world knows who you are, my mother has trouble remembering my name._

_Anna Scott: I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her._

They didn’t know at which point in the movie it happened or who initiated it, but when the lights came on, Pepper and Tony found themselves resting their heads together- her head on his shoulder and his on her head. They got up with a start. What was it about facing each other that made them so uncomfortable?

“That..” Tony said, “Was better than Die-Hard 4.”

Pepper smiled awkwardly. “Yeah..” For a moment, neither said anything, both looking around as if to avoid each other’s eyes. “We should go now.”

“Yeah..” he said slowly. “Let me walk you home.”

“Tony, we came by car. Happy’s waiting for us outside.”

“No that’s impersonal.. I’m supposed to walk you home.. that’s what happens on the third date…”

She gave him a look. “So Tony Stark is actually researching dating etiquettes now?” He grinned, and she crossed her arms. “So what else have you researched?”

“Eh.. just the basics. First date is about likeability, second is about compatibility and romance, third is the deal breaker. You walk the girl home, she invites you in or kisses you, whatever.”

Pepper stared open mouthedly at him. “Okay, there’s going to be no such thing.”

“Are you sure? It would create just the right amount of media frenzy that we need.”

“It would ESTABLISH us as a couple. We don’t want that. We just want them to speculate about us. Not to forget that my Mom would kill me if there’s a pic of us smooching on the cover page tomorrow!”

“Fine fine!” he said. “So then we confuse them- we walk home.”

She scoffed. “You can’t do that, unless you plan to walk all night. And for your kind information, a drive is a better idea, what with today being a full moon night and all.”

His eyes lit up. “Potts that’s brilliant!” he said, taking her hand and pulling her out.

They walked out of the theatre towards the exit where a few photographers were present, no doubt having been hinted in advance of their ‘date’. They pretended to ignore the photographers as they walked to their car, Tony opened the door for her and closed it after she got in, then went to the other side to where Happy sat. “Take a cab and go home Happy. We’ll come by ourselves.“ He said, taking the keys from him as Happy got out. Tony got in, rolled the top down, and giving a flash of a brilliant smile to the photographers, sped away, Pepper waving goodbye to Happy, who looked exceedingly pleased at the turn of events, and then grinned back at the photographers.

Avoiding the city, he drove to the highways along the coastline. The wind blew in their hair and the moonlight bathed everything in silver. Pepper removed her sneakers and stretched her jeans clad legs to put them up in front, enjoying the breeze. Tony couldn’t help glancing at her legs and her primly done up toe nails and wondered what colour they were.

“They’re red.” She said, her eyes still closed. “Eyes on the road, Stark.”

He grinned. “Yes Ma’am!” he turned up the music to put on Hunter Hayes ‘I want crazy’ and both of them sang the lyrics out loud.

_But I don’t want ‘good’ and I don’t want ‘good enough’_

_I want ‘can’t sleep’, ‘can’t breathe without your love’_

_Front porch and one more kiss, it doesn’t make sense to anybody else_

_Who cares if you’re all I think about_

_I’ve searched the world and I know now,_

_It ain’t right if you ain’t lost your mind_

_Yeah, I don’t want easy, I want crazy_

_You with me baby? Let’s be crazy_

Both of them laughed out aloud. When the song ended, he switched to a softer Ed Sheeran’s Perfect, and Pepper said, “Are we crazy or really sad people with awful dating lives, that we’re actually enjoying this fake dating thing?”

“Eh well, compared to some of the other stuff I’ve done, this is pretty mellow!” Tony said. “Don’t know about you though, fake dating me might be the most outrageous, rebellious thing you’ve done yet.”

“You don’t know.” Pepper bit her lip, smiling secretly. Tony alternated between looking at her and the road. “Seriously? Does your Mom know?”

“It’s not the kind of thing my Mom should know.” She smiled, looking outside the window.

“Killing me Potts! Tell me now!”

“Nope.”

“I promise, it shall be between us and the sea! What did you do? Smoked pot in college? Got a naval piercing? A tramp stamp?”

She laughed. “Not even close.”

“Please?”

“Hey, what do I get in return?” she sat up suddenly, crossing her legs under her. “If I tell you something about me you don’t know, then I need to know something about you that no one, including me, knows too.”

“Gosh… this is just.. Pepper you know everything about me!”

“Nu-uh! You need to tell me, or you aren’t getting it!”

“Okay fine! Scout’s honour, I’ll tell you something about me too. But you go first!”

She eyed him suspiciously, then sat back comfortably on her seat again. In her usual calm, matter of fact tone she said,

“I have a gun.”

The car came to a screeching halt resulting in both of them being almost thrown in front. “Tony! Are you trying to get us killed?”

“You.. have a gun?” he mumbled, unable to believe it.

“A gun, AND a license. I’ve taken shooting lessons to perfect my aim.”

“But Pepper, why?”

She shrugged. “Just out of college, I had a job in AIM and lived in a very dinghy part of New York. There were robberies and news of assault every day. I was very nearly followed to my home one evening. So I decided to take self defence lessons. That didn’t feel adequate, and there was a lot of anger in me for nearly being assaulted. So I took shooting lessons, just to vent. Later, when I joined under you, I realised you were always under threat, and your bodyguards couldn’t follow you at all times, but I mostly was with you, like 85% of the times. That one time in Paris, when we were attacked in a business meeting, I felt there needed to be more. So I applied for a license, resumed my lessons and finally was able to get a gun.”

“You keep it at your home?”

She stayed silent. “Only one secret Mr. Stark.” She said, smilingly.

He looked ahead. “Wow. Mind blown!” he said, and blew a whistle. “Potts, you are seriously A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! And you’ve never been as hot in my fantasies as you will be tonight.”

She blushed and hit him on the arm. He caught her hand. “Thankyou.”

“What for?”

“For all the normal and abnormal things you do for me every day, even though you know many of them would worry your Mom.”

She didn’t know what to say to this very honest and simple confession. Most of their sentiments were always shrouded in banter and humour, but to have Tony saying it to her very blatantly and honestly left her speechless and with butterflies in her tummy. As always, she tried to deflect. “Confession time for you now Mr. Stark!” she said cheerfully. “Tell me your dirty secret.”

“I just did.”

“What?!” she said, frowning.

“I just told you that I’m very thankful to you for everything. That’s my secret. I don’t think I’ve ever said that to you before.”

“That’s not a secret! In fact, I know you’ve always been thankful to me because well.. because I deserve it! You wouldn’t be able to survive without me! You don’t even know your social security number!” she huffed and pointed a finger at him. “You owe me a secret!”

“I told you- you know everything about me.” He grinned. “Of course, there are things related to my nightly activities I could tell you about… but I don’t think you’d like that.”

“Ewww! No!”

He laughed. “Yup, expected that.”

“Fine. I’ll tell you what I don’t know- and I want a serious and very honest answer. What is it that you really want out of your life? Your very weird and eccentric, seemingly purposeless, fast life?

He smiled, and resumed driving. “You’re not gonna tell me?”

He didn’t answer but started a different song on the radio. Pepper pursed up her lips, crossed her arms and looked out at the sea. “Fine, don’t tell me. But keep in mind that I have a gun.”

They continued driving in silence for a while, listening to the different songs, and finally Tony turned back to the city, stopping the Audi just outside Pepper’s house. Both of them got out and they walked to the front porch.

“No photographers here, so you can just leave.” She said, and her voice sounded off.

“Yeah I know.. I just..” he paused uncomfortably, looking around. “About your question..”

“Yes?” she said in a disinterested voice.

He was quiet again, as if trying to frame his thoughts. Finally after what appeared to be like many long seconds, he said, “You know, when I was small, my father never spent much time with us. He was working all the time, and always saw me as a disturbance to his work. He was forever trying to get rid of me.” He swallowed. “My Mom and him used to have fights over this, and to appease her, he sometimes took a holiday to be with us. You know what was his favourite holiday idea?”

She shook her head. Where was this going?

“He had a yacht.” He continued. “And we used to take a fishing trip on it. He would sit in his shorts and flowery shirt with his fishing rod setup, and read a book. My Mom and I would watch the waves and the gulls and feed them. I would try to fish but it was too boring and I was too restless and fidgety, so I would end up disturbing his catch too, and then he would yell at me. You can imagine right?”

She nodded, smiling. Oh she so could imagine an 8 year old Tony creating havoc on a yacht.

“Well, as impossible as it seems, I want to see myself on the yacht, on another family fishing trip, being a better company to my child than my Dad ever was.”

She was so stunned that she could not say anything. Tony Stark, renowned billionaire playboy genius, who had never had a single serious relationship ever, who treated life as a commodity to be whiled away and enjoyed in frivolous pursuits- actually admitting that what he wanted most was to settle down in life, to have a family of his own, to love and be loved. So many thoughts entered her mind at that instant, and she kept looking at him, hoping she could find the right thing to say but unable to say anything.

“It’s late. You should go to bed now.” He said, taking a step back. “Goodnight Pepper.”

“Tony wait!” she held his hand. And then before she could think of anything else, she moved ahead and planted a kiss on his cheek. She held position for a few moments, her breath on Tony’s cheek and her hand on his chest, feeling his heart thudding away, certain that hers was no less in overdrive.

She stepped away from him finally, looking at a speechless Tony, who had a bewildered, soft look in his eyes. “Thankyou… for.. for a very nice evening.” She finished.

He nodded quietly, turned and left, apparently still letting it sink in. She stood on the porch for a while, watching him leave, then she opened the door, went inside and closed it, resting her back against the door. Once in, she took some deep breaths and then finally said to herself,

“Well.. I guess I suck at sticking to the plan.” She shrugged.

XXXXXXX

_Vanity Fair_

_April 28 th 2007_

_Malibu California_

_Turning over a new leaf?_

_In what can only be called a shocking turn of events, it seems like our favourite billionaire playboy Mr. Tony Stark is all set to get tied up! Yup you read that right! Sources at Stark Industries vouch about how Mr. Stark and his personal assistant Miss Virginia Potts have taken over the coffee break conversations of the employees. News of their liason hung thick in the air over the last few days, what with them being photographed together at events consistently, and Mr. Stark repeatedly mentioning in interviews that he’s looking forward to ‘a change in his life’. And now it seems, they aren’t even bothering to hide it! This weekend, the love birds were photographed coming out of Sunshine multiplexes after what seems like a movie date (with employees at the theatre claiming that Stark booked a whole theatre for her!). Who knew that our playboy was capable of such romantic gestures? One thing is for sure though- Miss Potts and Mr. Stark seem to be getting a lot of support in their relationship from the close people in their life. After Colonel Rhodes and Obadiah Stane, it was his long time bodyguard and friend, Harold Hogan, who couldn’t hide his happiness for the two of them. Do we hear wedding bells chiming already?_

_[Attached: A pic of them exiting the theatre together, both wearing sunglasses and facing away from the cameras. Another pic showed the ‘Tickets Sold Out’ board from outside the theatre hall.]_

XXXXXXX

“I still can’t believe it!”

Pepper again and again scrolled through the various newspaper clippings being displayed in front of her by Jarvis. They included coverage on Tony and her done by the media and dropped by the PR of Stark Industries over the last 4 weeks. In addition to their fake dates, there were also few articles analysing their journey over last 8 years, their equation and roles in each others’ lives. Most of it was tasteful and speculated at them getting together seriously, while a few others negated it, saying they were ‘good friends’.

“That’s like the tenth time you’re reading this crap!”

“That’s also like the tenth time you’ve said it to me!” she said irritatedly. How could this happen? How had the whole thing FAILED?

Yup. Just that afternoon she had got a call from PR that the whole fake dating thing and relationship strategy hadn’t resulted in any major speculation by the press. Majority of the reputed journalists in the inner circle who had interacted with her professionally knew of her place in Tony’s life and had disregarded it as baseless gossip just like all these years, while a few bitchy ones (many of who had also been escorted out by her from Tony’s house during her ‘taking-the-trash-out’ morning routine) had laughed it off as ‘Tony Stark’s miserable attempts to clean up his act’ or ‘get settled with the old hag for a heir’. The whole thing had not helped Tony’s image turnover project much.

“The smaller gossip magazines have certainly noticed and are still carrying out the story, but majorly it seems to have been a failed thing. It doesn’t help that there are so many models still giving out fake stories about them being with Mr. Stark on so and so night and totally milking it. One claims to have given him a blowjob in the Disney concert hall bathroom when he was missing in the midst of the event. One even said she would not let him marry you without sorting out their ‘child custody and settlement’ issues first. Christine Everhart has written a long article about both of you opting for a one year contract marriage to produce a heir for Stark Industries. Another magazine has followed up on that story and claims to be in touch with the lawyer who is currently drafting your pre-nup!” John had said to her.

“I think you can make your Mom happy and stop with the fake dating Miss Potts. However we do think Mr. Stark should continue keeping a low profile with respect to his women and drinking. If anything, it will at least help us in avoiding controversies- like this child custody one. Meanwhile we have some activities planned under the Martha Stark Relief Foundation.”

She didn’t know why her cheeks heated up with annoyance remembering the talk with John, but she couldn’t stop scrolling through the articles.

“Pepper what happened to the 1001 things you usually run after me with? Where are they today?” Tony reminded her in an attempt to distract her.

“I don’t know. I can’t work!” Pepper finally threw herself back on the couch, her hands on her forehead.

“Why not?”

“This!” she pointed at the screen.

“So? It didn’t work, that’s alright.” He shrugged. “I never thought it would.”

“WHAT? You didn’t think it would?”

“Nope. An image makeover through fake dating? Come on Pepper, you’re insulting the intelligence of a lot of people here. Give them some credit.”

“But then why did you go along with it?”

He grinned. “Because I thought it would be fun!” he said. “That’s what I said that time too!”

Pepper groaned. “So this was all just a joke for you?”

“No it’s not like that Pep..” he said. Pepper rested both her hands on her forehead, trying to calm herself. Tony came and sat next to her on the couch, looking at her for a while. Slowly he removed both her hands.

“You have no idea how nervous I was about the whole thing. I literally put my reputation on the line for you. And now they say it was useless, you say you knew it was all useless. Meanwhile the whole of the office staff must be gossiping about us.. and..”

“It doesn’t matter even if they are.” He said softly. “It doesn’t change the fact that you’re still the most efficient person in my workforce, and the only person they approach to get work done out of me. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re brilliant, and beautiful and exceedingly kind. They know all of that. And if they don’t know and wish to get carried away by office gossip only, then maybe it’s better for you to stay away from them anyway.”

“I know.. but…” she looked again at the clippings in front of her. “So much of planning and effort for nothing.”

“Effort?”

She turned to look at him. “Of course, the efforts were from mine and PR’s side. You were just having your ‘fun’.”

He grinned. “I won’t deny that. I did have a lot of fun. I don’t usually get to go out on dates like these.” He stood up. “All the same, I understand your disappointment, so as compensation I will make you some Macaroni and Cheese, ala Tony!”

“Wow. So macaroni and cheese by the great Tony Stark is supposed to make me forget all of this? And what about the mess in the kitchen later?”

“Pepper I’m not going to burn the place making macaroni and cheese, just relax.”

“Yeah yeah. You’re just gonna give me a stomach upset.” She murmured glumly. She kept flicking through the newspaper clippings while Tony worked on the kitchen counter in the background, humming. Suddenly she spoke.

“Tony, what did you mean by ‘dates like these’?”

He looked up from behind the counter. “What?”

“You said you had fun because you don’t get to go for ‘dates like these’. What did you mean?”

“Dates with beautiful, genuinely intelligent women.”

“What?” Pepper looked back at him. “But you go out with beautiful, intelligent women all the time. So what’s with the ‘dates like these’?”

Tony wiped his hands thoughtfully on a kitchen towel as he came near her.

“Well, dates like these, as in, when you are not approached by a woman with an obvious pre-decided motive- cornering you in an interview, seducing you, flirting with you for tips, trying to impress you for business orders- motives which become apparent within the first 5 minutes with the body language of the woman.” He scratched his head thoughtfully. “Dates, like when you talk to someone just like that, because it’s easy, because it’s simple, because it’s .. fun.. because you don’t have to put on a mask.. because they know you.. and because they want to know more about you and you about them.. not dates when someone approaches you with starry eyes because they love the persona they’ve seen of you and don’t want anything more than that.. dates like these, as in.. REAL dates.”

He was sitting on the couch next to her again now, and she let every word of his sink in, before laughing nervously. “FAKE dates you mean.”

He smiled. “Honestly, it is an honour to even fake date a woman like you Pep. I’m sure you’ve been on many ‘dates like these’, they’re routine stuff to you, but not for me. Then again, what is fake and what is real- everything is but an illusion of the mind.” He paused to think before continuing. “You know Pepper, why I thought this whole image turnover thing is useless and why this fake dating PR strategy failed? Because normal people don’t really care which image you project in front of them as long as it benefits them. People don’t care whether I’m a good guy or a bad one, all they care about is whether Stark Industries stocks are rising high or crashing, because they’ve invested in them. My employees are happy with me as long as I put food in their homes. The government is happy as long as I give them the best weapons for defence. The rest is up for debates and judgement and media entertainment, but doesn’t leave a mark in the real world. The media people don’t care about whether I’m good or bad- they care about whether I can give them fodder to sell their newspapers. And I’m okay with it as long as I know the benefits my actions lead to in everyday life of people. The only day I would consider changing anything is if I feel my actions genuinely hurt someone. For now, I see that they don’t. It’s a barter going on- everyone gets benefitted and is happy. Even if you speak about my infamous liasons- they come to me with some expectations and I fulfil exactly that. I am not a fool to keep unreal expectations from them either.”

“But does it not affect you.. the way they think of you?”

“Pepper I learnt very early on in life that people will think of you the way they want to. You can’t control it. Even when I was an underage high-schooler with a brilliant mind and in an advanced class on my own merit- I was picked on and bullied, my wealth sneered at and my security hated. They assumed I would grow up to be an asshole as I was so entitled. I was approached by people only when they needed something from me, and that has not changed over years. I don’t expect it to change either- even if I hang out with the Pope, they’re gonna drag me in something from the past or find something scandalous to write about me- me in depression, me doing drugs, me the playboy holding secret orgies, anything of that sort. Normal doesn’t sell. Scandalous does. So I portray myself as what people would enjoy me as and everyone can gain from. This whole enterprise isn’t your failure, so stop beating yourself over it. Accept it that there are few things that even the amazing Miss Potts has no control over.”

He grinned, and Pepper could see more behind his smile than he showed- the acceptance of wearing a mask and camouflaging true feelings to keep things running smoothly, for matters of convenience. It was true what he had said- everything is an illusion of the mind- people make out from it what they wish to and everyone is biased to stick to their own convenient versions, no one wants to go digging for the real deal.

“This was a stupid idea.” She agreed. “It never would have worked. But seriously Tony, why did you even agree to it- when you knew better?”

She looked up at him, and in the semi darkness, she could see a soft smile on his face.

“I was hoping against hope for it to work so that things could get easier for you.. all of you, I mean. I felt, I embarrass you. That’s what you said..”

“Tony..” she groaned. “That’s not what I meant. I know you better than that. I just.. I wanted people to see all the good things in you that I see.. and that people like my Mom can’t and I end up having to justify again and again..”

“Still.. there’s so much you do for me on a daily basis. I thought, maybe this once I should try it out for you, even if I don’t have much faith in it myself. I could see how invested you were in the whole enterprise of changing my media-image.”

The ding from the microwave oven surprised her, and Tony got up. He served the macaroni and cheese in two bowls and brought it to her. “Here’s your compensation!” he announced.

“Macaroni and cheese.” she said, with a straight face. “That’s it?”

As if on cue, Tony bent down and started removing her heels.

“Tony, this is outrageous!” she said, stopping him, goosebumps rising as his rough hands touched her soles.

“Relax Potts! We pretended to do more than this hardly a week back. Now eat.” He said, taking her bare feet and putting them up on his lap, kneeding the pressure points. “Enough with the glum face now! You had fun too, admit it!”

“Yeah.. kind of!” she said hesitantly, her attention on his hands.

“Our fans enjoyed it too.” She gave him a quizzical look, and he explained. “Pepperony fan club on Twitter? We have 243 members now.”

“Oh gosh!” she threw her head back and laughed. “Seriously?”

“Yup! In fact, I’m standing for elections to be the chief secretary of the fan club. I suggest you join in and give me a vote.”

“This is ridiculous.” She said, laughing again.

“It’s not ridiculous. People are invested in our lives now. They’ve written such beautiful stuff about us. I feel it is my moral responsibility to promote us now so that the media gives them what they want to hear!”

“I’m surprised people have so much free time in their life to go rooting for people they don’t even know,” she murmured, as Tony asked Jarvis to open up the fanclub’s twitter link. “Look look!” he excitedly said.

Eating her macaroni and cheese, she looked as picture upon picture scrolled up in front of her. “The double date!” Tony said.

“You still owe me 15 dollars.” She reminded him.

“No I don’t. You cheated- you didn’t tell me you were a champion at your college.”

“Well, it’s your fault for not knowing it. How long have we worked together- 8 years now?”

He grunted. “Point taken. That date taught me to research all about you so that I don’t lose any more of my fortune!” Pepper laughed. She had enjoyed the casual hangout and the easy going proceedings of the evening.

Tony brightened up on seeing the next pic. “My first prom!” He said dramatically. “When karma bit me back and ruined my good shoes.”

“Oh gosh, don’t remind me now!” Pepper said, cringing. Embarassment of having a made a fool of herself aside, that had been a pretty awesome evening- to see Tony’s caring side, to see him be the responsible one for a change. The dance, the conversation, the chicken wings and reminiscing their high school and college days- she had thoroughly enjoyed it all.

And that tux, and those eyes. She still shivered inside remembering Tony’s hot gaze on her, filled with desire and longing. Her eyes momentarily moved to Tony’s hands kneading her feet, and she tried hard to suppress a moan.

She shuddered and moved to the next pic- their movie date. So much fun, and then, towards the end..

That reminded her. “Tony..?”

“Hmmm?”

“That yacht thing we talked about..”

“Yeah..?

“If you know what you want in life, why don’t you go down that path?”

He smiled. “Because I don’t know how to get there. I’m afraid I’ll mess something on my own, and end up hurting someone. I don’t know if I’m capable of it even. Sometimes distances are most convenient.”

Distance. Distance is what they’d put between themselves for a long time, choosing to avoid the flares of attraction, the silent picture of domesticity, the long history they shared, their familiarity of each other. They hadn’t even discussed the kiss they’d shared, choosing instead to ignore the elephant in the room. But the past few days..

She looked again at themselves, sitting on the couch in the place that was home to both of them, eating macaroni and cheese, while Tony continued to talk over, giving her a foot rub, Jarvis putting up pics in the background.

This was her idea of what their perfect date would be. Just another, normal, day after work.

And then it suddenly struck her, and she realized why their ‘dating news’ had refused to gain steam.

It was because those who had seen them previously with each other, and later on the dates, had realized that inspite of the different settings and motive of meeting, as people, they weren’t different at all. It was _them_ all over, which was difficult to define, but it was what made Rhodey and Happy bet over when they would give up and just marry each other. It was what made people either decide they had been doing it since a long long time (and had dropped it only after years of no progress), or were just like an old married couple, comfortable in each other’s presence.

Platonic Pepperony. Fake dating Pepperony. Dating Pepperony. The lines between all three had become so blurred over years of familiarity, comfort, friendship.. and maybe.. more.. that hardly anyone noticed a difference now.

The truth about how much distance Tony and she herself had crossed between themselves in these three dates was something only both of them knew. They had always known they understood each other more than anybody else, felt more open and safe with each other than anybody else, trusted each other and were most compatible- heck that is why they had gone ahead with the ridiculous fake dating idea!- but it was only now that they had earnestly acknowledged it all, as well as the fact that they loved spending time with each other, even when it was nothing but just eating macaroni and cheese at home accompanied with their usual banter.

_Dates, like when you talk to someone just like that, because it’s easy, because it’s simple, because it’s .. fun.. because you don’t have to put on a mask.. because they know you.. and because they want to know more about you and you about them.._

“You are.” She said suddenly.

“What?”

“Capable. You are capable of getting there.”

He smiled softly. “And you know.. how?”

“I know.. because I know. I know you better that you think I do.” She said through a spoonful of Macaroni. “And you know what, I think I figured out where we went wrong.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I think the dates and coverage were pretty mellow. We kept thinking and calculating too much. We should have just, gone with the flow!” she let go of her hand to emphasize.

Tony pointed his fork at her. “I did, you didn’t. You were always too focussed on the photographers and the office gossip and your reputation and scared of your Mom! Remember my initial pitch of the whole dating thing? Us on a yacht? Me, you and a two piece bikini? Now THAT would have sent the newspapers blazing!”

She smiled. After three dates now, she knew better now about what to expect. “So let’s do it.”

Tony almost coughed on his mouthful. Somehow he managed to gulp it down. “What?”

“Yes. Let’s do it.” She said, trying to sound casual about it. “I mean, after all this… disappointment… and all the efforts of the past 6 weeks- I could use a break, so it would serve two purposes.”

Tony still stared at her wide eyed. “After all this.. failure.. you still want to go ahead with it? You.. with me.. on a yacht, in a two piece?”

She bit her lip. “Do shorts and a t-shirt count as two piece?”

Tony blew a whistle.

“But if you flounder near my fishing rod or disturb my reading, I’ll throw you into the water.”

He laughed, a genuine sweet laugh that made Pepper want to hug him. “As long as you don’t stand me up, I’ll do anything.” He rubbed his goatee thoughtfully. “So we.. continue fake dating?” he said, a little hesitantly.

“Yeah.” Pepper said lazily, pulling her legs towards herself to sit cross legged, and immediately missing the warmth of his hands. Those clever, clever hands!

“What about the photographers?”

“Um.. let’s just stick to Jarvis taking pics for us.” She said coyly.

“And PR?”

“Let’s keep it our little project for now and prove them wrong.”

“And.. your Mom?”

She thought for a moment. “She hates you, but I believe you are charming enough to make any woman fall for you. Am I right Mr. Stark?”

Her face blushed with excitement and naughtiness, and was complemented by the pure joy exuding from his. He moved a little closer to sit to her. “Normal women, yes. Beautiful, genuinely intelligent women, I don’t know.”

“Why not?”

“I haven’t really, dated, such women much, or made them fall for me.”

She looked at him quietly, his chocolate brown eyes displaying a warmth and shyness that she rarely saw, and all of a sudden, she could see that underage high schooler again. The guy who held so much within himself, and only in flashes could she see his real kind, caring, compassionate persona. The guy who was a self proclaimed playboy, and yet, now sat across from her, holding both his hands together- nervously contemplating his next move.

She closed the distance between them. “I think you have.” She said quietly.

It was fuzzy and later they would argue who had actually initiated it, but the next moment, they found their lips entangled in a searing kiss. They didn’t even know how long it lasted, but at that moment, it seemed like a ‘finally!’ moment, when all the holding back of not just their 3 dates, but everything else in the last 8 years that they had known each other, came to an end. They kissed and they kissed, their arms entangled around each other, supporting each other, exploring the warmth and the feeling of just being close.

They separated finally to breathe, their foreheads still joined together.

“Weird?” he asked.

“Nope.” She said, breathing heavily.

“Then maybe we can do it again.” He suggested. “Great for the cameras!”

She nodded. “A few more practice sessions before that, maybe.”

She was interrupted by Tony kissing her again. She laughed and put both her arms around his neck, softly running her fingers through his hair, returning each kiss with as much affection and passion as he put into it.

They separated finally, and Tony grinned. “I can’t wait for our next fake date now.”

She laughed. Indeed. What is fake and what is real? Everything is but an illusion of the mind.

**Author's Note:**

> And done! Finally, my first piece of writing on Pepperony. I had the most fun writing it, and hope all of you enjoyed reading it too!
> 
> Edited to add: I don't know why this work has come up without my name! So disappointed right now. :(  
> Anyways this ficlet has been written by closetwriter for Pepperonyweek2020


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